Check yo self! (Blog #7)

Existential Crisis Of The Week: Am I Living My Values??

That's the question on my mind these days. Last week I went to a lecture on Climate Change + The Local Economy by one of my favorite Utah humans, Rocky Anderson. He provided a brief and up-to-date lecture on climate change and it's impacts on Utah's economy.

At the very end, as I'm thoughtfully pleading for more reminders of what I can do to help reverse the damage to our planet, he says, "Utahn's need to start living their values." And I've been internalizing that question all week.

The urgency of climate action is staring us in the face. My memories of past winters do not match this year's. The storm this week was another wake up call. The warmth in my mountainous city is clearly not a phase. It's climate changing in front of us.

I felt called to check myself and make it a goal to continue to check myself here on Deep Thoughts on a more consistent basis. As I adjust to life outside the small world of the environmental department on campus, I am now responsible for how I use my education to make the world a better place. Lucky for me, my education is deeply aligned with my values, which led me to journalism and spreading the good news: Every day is an opportunity to improve upon something. It's never too late to do something to help the earth and the community. Values can shift, you can make change if you want to. Just keep following your truth.

So Jane, what are you values these days? 

I suppose I'm not sure the best way to answer that. I have so many things I value in my life. Mostly I value kindness. Mostly, I value compassion and loving kindness towards others. I value those things because I value making the world a better place. I think the end game of making the world a better place, includes helping the planet and more importantly – how humans interact with the planet.

It can feel like an intimidating feat sometimes. The planet it a lot to take in. I can be hyper focused on my bioregion. Focused on the local issues. Polluted air. Warm winter. Always mindful of my commute. Always supporting local farmers, shops and artisans. But there are so many externalities that are not right in front of me that I can't control and don't even know about. There is so much more to it than clean air and warm temperatures. I must continue to build a more eco-conscious lifestyle.

Before I continue preaching, I'd like to jump in on myself here and throw a reminder that nobody lives a perfect lifestyle. I believe that you BUILD the perfect lifestyle (for YOU) and as you grow, that building comes with flexibility to move with you and your values. It took me a long time to get good at eating all local and guess what- it's almost impossible to do during the winter – but I still know I'm doing my best. I'd be starving if I were still trying to eat all local. You've got to give and take and then give a little extra in all aspects of your life to cut back on your personal impact on the planet. Ever since I embarked on an undergrad degree in environmentalism, I've been this constant exploration of what it means to care for the planet. And I truly believe it looks differently for every one. As long as we are checking in and making improvements as we go along, we are creating a bigger change for the future. Never forget that.

Back to my own improving: Getting back on the zero-waste wagon.

I got on the zero waste wagon over a year ago when I moved in with one of my best friends from college and we both decided to try to cut back on how much landfill waste we created. That really is the basis of zero waste living. It's about being mindful and aware of what you are throwing away and how to make changes along the way that reduce how often you take the garbage out. With the end goal if it being never. The foundations of that movement branch out into avoiding plastics, chemicals, processed foods, boycotting consumerism, fast fashion and many other things that are bad for us humans and our habitat.

To get inspired from the queen of the zero waste movement, Lauren Singer on Trash Is For Tossers. She's the one who got me into it. Again, the important thing with this movement, along with any lifestyle change is taking it one step at a time.

Before I share what I need to improve upon, I'd like to share the EASY changes I've made that I promise will be easy for you too because, well, I did it so any one can do it. These are all pretty much reminders for myself.

I have a great huge canvas bag that I can fit all my groceries in for the week (behind all this stuff). My steel tiffin is one of my favorite zero-waste items you can find online. I keep a glass tumbler in case I need an ice coffee or smoothie. My bamboo utensils that come in handy when only plastic options are available. And of course, my Kleen Kanteens. One for water, one for coffee. MUST HAVES ALWAYS. 

1. Carrying my water bottle, canteen, steel to-go box, bamboo silver ware and canvas tote bag with me at all times. If you go out to eat a lot and have left overs, be sure to bring a re-usable to-go box with you. Commit to always using a coffee canteen and never allowing yourself to waste another coffee cup.

2. Switching to bamboo/sugar-cane toilet paper. It's not as soft but it's an easy change. I've been buying Green2 Tree from Harmon's because it's cheap and accessible but it comes wrapped in plastic which is problematic. Go for something wrapped in paper.

3. Woman: Getting on board with the Diva Cup or Glad Rags. You'll reduce so much waste, save so much money and not be putting questionable chemicals inside your body. Also you'll never again be like 'shit I'm out of tampons' again. JUST DO IT.

4. No more shopping at Forever 21, H&M or dare I say it, TARGET. Bad news bears. Watch The True Cost on Netflix. Support local stores like Iconoclad. Support ethical clothing companies like Patagonia. Try to buy quality items that you LOVE. Don't throw old clothes away. Give your old things to Deseret Industries and use old un-donatable fabrics as rags to replace paper towels.

5. Recycle everything you can. I shouldn't have to say much about this. Collect your glass. Collect your old electronics. Collect old pharmaceuticals. Almost everything has a place in town you can take it to. SLCGreen.com can refresh any questions you have about our city's recycling program.

6. AVOID ANYTHING that is individually packaged or clearly has exceedingly wasteful packaging. Be cautious at places like Costco. So much good and so much danger in one place!

Here are the next steps I'm giving myself: 

7. Figure out my composting situation now that I live in a big condo complex.

-Brown bins are back on March 5th and you can put all your compost in those bins. SLC Green will answer all your questions. Read this New York Times article to learn more about food waste issues. Keeping food waste out of my garbage bin will make for a drastic reduction.

8. Ordering these Reusable Cotton Pads from Etsy for $9.

- Skincare is quite important to me. I tone my skin twice a day using cotton pads that I throw away and it's been killing me slowly for a long time. If you use something every day that you throw away, there's probably an alternative. The internet has everything these days.

9. Finding an alternative for the plastic bag I waste each time I buy a loaf of bread from the bakery.

- I religiously buy home-made sour dough bread every week from a local bakery. I need to replace the plastic bag that I receive it in every week. According to other zero-waste sites like My Plastic Free Life and Litterless, it looks like it's best to put your bread in a fabric bag or pillow case, then into a dutch oven or sealed tin to ensure freshness. Done. Doing it.

Those are the three tasks that I am giving myself for the month of March to live more aligned with my values. I'll set new goals for myself in April and check back here on your favorite new blog: Deep Thoughts SLC.

What does it mean to live your values? Are you living them? How could you better align yourself?
Please share with me, I love a good conversation.

With love,
Jane.